Beer Glass Types

Beer Glass Styles & Types of Beer Glasses

TrueBeer has compiled this reference guide of beer glass types to inform you on the glassware used to serve beers. This resource will help answer the following questions:

What is a Beer Glass?

What is the proper glass to use to serve different styles of beer?

Why are there some many different types of beer glasses?

Does each beer style have its own matching beer glass?

What are the names of the different beer glasses?

How does the shape of a beer glass enhance the drinking experience?

Below is a list of common beer glasses and the types of beer typically served in them.

American Pint Glass or Shaker Glass

American Pint

The American pint glass is the most common beer glass in the USA. It is cone-shaped and typically holds 16oz to 20oz of beer. The simple design, the ease of stacking and durability are the features that made this style of pint glass so popular in post-prohibition American bars and restaurants. The shaker glass is often used to mix cocktails making use even more widespread. These glasses are made from thick glass and built to last. This helps with maintaining cold temperatures. The cone shape is simple but the wide rim does allow for good aroma release making the glass perfect for serving a wide-variety of beer styles.

Beer Boot, Bierstiefel or Das Boot

Beer Boots

The beer boot glass is thought to be a German creation formed in the military tradition. There is also evidence the boot shaped beer glass originated in England in the 1800's. A boot glass comes in sizes ranges from 16oz up to 150 oz.

Beer Mug or Krug

Beer Mugs

Beer mugs are the most common style of beer glasses. This classic glassware type evolved from the German beer stein. When commercial glassware production began in Europe, the stone mug was replaced by glassware. The design of a beer mugs serves two purposes; durability and insulation. Beer mugs typically are made with thick glass with a study handle. The thickness of the glass helps keeps the beer cold and the handle allows for a firm grip and to prevent heat transfer from your hand to the beer. The wide mouth of the mug allows for plenty of aroma to be released.

Goblet and Chalice

Goblet or Chalice Beer Glasses

Goblets and chalices are large, stemmed bowl shaped glasses adequate for serving Belgian ales, German doppelbocks and eisbocks and other big sipping beers (high ABV). The distinction between goblet and a chalice beer glass is typically in the glass thickness but the term is somewhat interchangeable. Goblet beer glasses tend to be more delicate and thin, while the chalice is heavy and thick walled. Some chalices are even etched on the bottom of the bowl of the glass to attract carbon dioxide and provide a stream of bubbles for maintaining a nice head.

Nonic Glass or English Pint Glass

Nonic Glasses

A nonic glass is an English style pint glass that has a curved lip about two inches from the top of the glass. A nonic typically holds an imperial pint or 20 oz. This glass is typically used to serve English ales and English Lagers.

Pilsner Glass

Beer Steins

A pilsner glass is a glass is used to serve many types of light beers, but is intended for its namesake, the pilsner. Pilsner glasses can be smaller than a pint glass, usually in 10oz or 16oz sizes. They are tall and slender and tapered. Weizen glasses are often mistakenly referred to as Pilsner glasses, but a true Pilsner glass has an even taper without curvature. Pilsner glasses are made to showcase the color, effervescence and clarity of the Pilsner style, as well as maintain a nice head. This is a classic beer glass style that was widely used in both the USA and Europe prior to Prohibition.

Pint Glasses

A pint glass is a beer glass holding either an American Pint (16 oz) or a British pint 568 ml (19.2 oz). Pint glass is a non-specific term that usually refers to one of three different beer glass styles:

American Conical Pint Glass or Shaker Glass

Nonic Glass

Tulip Pint Glass

Willibecher Glass

Snifter Beer Glass

Snifter Beer Glasses

The snifter beer glass is typically used for serving brandy and cognac, a snifter is perfect for capturing the volatiles of aromatic beers, such as Belgian ales, India pale ales, barleywines and wheat wines. The shape helps trap the volatiles, while allowing swirling to agitate them and produce an intense aroma. The short stem and wide bowl fit nicely in your hand and allow the warmth from your hand to gently warm the beer to the optimal serving temperature.

Stange Glass, Stick or Stuck Glass

Stange Beer Glasses

The stange beer glass or pole glass is a simple cylinder shaped glass typically used for German Kolsch and Alt beers. Stange glasses tend to lower in capacity as the beer meant to be consumed quickly while still cold.

Steins

Beer Steins

A beer stein is a traditionally German beer tankard or mug, made of pewter, silver, wood, porcelain, earthenware or glassware, and usually with a hinged lid and levered thumb lift. The lid was implemented during the age of the Black Plague, to prevent flies from getting into the beer.

Thistle Beer Glass

Thistle Beer Glasses

A thistle beer glass is used for Scottish ales. The glass is shaped like a thistle blossom, hence the name. The bowl of the glass is large and fit well in your hand while the flared top allows for the release of aroma.

Tulip Beer Glass

Tulip Beer Glasses

A tulip beer glass not only helps trap the aroma, but also aids in maintaining large heads, creating a visual and olfactory sensation. The body is bulbous, but the top flares out to form a lip which helps head retention. Good for serving hoppy beer styles such as India Pale Ales (IPAs) and other aromatic beers.

Wheat Beer Glass, Weizenbier Glass or Weissbier Glass

Wheat Beer Glasses

A wheat beer glass is a glass used to serve wheat beer, known also as Weizenbier or Weissbier. This German-style glass generally holds 0.5 liters (16 oz) with room for foam or "head". It is much taller than a pint glass, and starts out very skinny before widening out slightly at the top. It is said that the glass is tapered to trap yeast at the bottom of the glass. In other countries such as Belgium, the glass may be 0.25 liters or 0.33 liters. This tall glass provides room for the often thick, fluffy heads produced by the style, which traps aromas and is visually pleasing.

Willybecher Glass

Willybecher Glasses

The willybecher (or willibecher) is the standard beer glass in Germany. They typically hold 500 milliliters or 16.9 ounces of beer. A willybecher has a think glass bottom and is tapered in the middle. The glass is used to serve German lagers.

Beer Glass History

What is a Beer Glass?

To put it very simply, a beer glass is a glass vessel that holds beer. The Sumerians are widely recognized as the inventors of beer and methods to drink beer. They enjoyed beer served out of clay pots with long straws (see image below).

Clay or stoneware was the material of choice for serving beer right up to the 1600s when pewter and silver started to be used to make beer tankards. The image below is an example of beer tankard made by Paul Revere.

Glass started to be used for serving beer in the mid to late 1700s. The catalyst is said to the royalty in England commissioning glassmakers in Germany to make new and interesting beer glassware for their enjoyment during hunting parties and other entertainment events. Glass making methods evolved and became more widely available to the general public and beer glass industry was born.

Why are there so many different types of beer glasses?

Beer glasses we first designed to fill specific purposes. For instance, the lidded German Beer Stein was created to keep flies out of your beer. The coachman's beer glass was created to allow an easy way to enjoy beer while driving a carriage. Thick glass mugs or krugs were developed to be durable and withstand the abuse endured in a local pub. Practical purposes superseded style for the common beer drinker. Beer glass styles that didn't have a specific utilitarian purpose were reserved for the upper classes and nobility. It wasn't until the mid-1800s that beer glass styles broke free from their functional constraints and started to be used as marketing tools by breweries in an attempt to set themselves apart from the competition. This was the start of many of the modern beer glasses we have today.

Does each beer style have its own matching beer glass?

Some beer styles are actually best enjoyed in the beer glass specifically designed for their enjoyment. The wheat beer glass instantly springs to mind. This tall beer glass is designed to trap yeast sediment at the bottom of the glass so it is not mixed with the rest of the beer as you are drinking it.

In Germany, each beer style typically does have its own corresponding beer glass. In Belgium, each beer glass BRAND can have its own beer glass style. In the USA, bar may serve all their beers in the same style beer glass. This is starting to change as beer tastes evolve and bars start to recognize the need for serving beer in proper glassware.